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As a public school teacher in Albuquerque, I can tell you Los Alamos has the best performing schools in the state. However, housing costs are also the highest in the state! Most people who live in the town work at the National Labs and the economy is based on services supporting the lab and the lab workers. The town does have a fairly low crime rate compared to the surrounding towns. I would be weary of moving there though because there have been a lot of job cuts at the lab recently, and if it were ever to be shut down, the whole economy of the town would crumble!
The rule is buy when prices are low and sell when they are high. Troubles at the lab mean this is the time to buy at Los Alamos.
Might Los Alamos NL close? Yes, the same day the US renounces all use of nuclear weapons even in response to a nuclear attack on us. In other words, the First of Never.
Hello TNGuy - I was so glad to read your take on LA. I, too, live in Knoxville area and want to get out of this unhealthy air. Having said that, what do you feel will be the greatest adjustment if I move there? The humidity here in Knoxville area is way-to-high and exhausting. Thanks for any feedback!
Howdy, semi-neighbor!
We're leaving the Knoxville area for NM (probably Ruidoso) too- but we're in New Market. The humidity is my main reason for leaving. From what I see, Ruidoso's temps range 5 degrees either side of ours, but not as *moist* lol.
Hello TNGuy - I was so glad to read your take on LA. I, too, live in Knoxville area and want to get out of this unhealthy air. Having said that, what do you feel will be the greatest adjustment if I move there? The humidity here in Knoxville area is way-to-high and exhausting. Thanks for any feedback!
I'm happy my post was informative for you.
As far as the biggest adjustment you'll experience should you move to Los Alamos, it's hard to pinpoint just one. I'll give you several:
-New Mexico in general is a very dry place, and I think you'd notice that right away. Humidity is extremely low. Lakes, rivers, etc. are not nearly as prevalent there as they are here.
-The scenery is almost the polar opposite of Knoxville, but not in a negative way - it's a beautiful town, but I suppose that depends a lot on your personal definition of "beautiful." If you can appreciate a desert-ish setting, you'll be fine.
-Shopping and dining options will be sparse compared to Knoxville, but that's to be expected considering it's an isolated mountain town of about 10,000 residents. It has perhaps a bit more than just the basic necessities.
-You'll see WAY more snow there - the elevation is about 7500 feet, and frequent snow storms are the norm during the winter, much like other parts of northern New Mexico.
-There seems to be more of an outdoorsy attitude prevailing in Los Alamos. You'll see people hiking, running, biking, etc. nearly all the time. I see a lot of that in Knoxville, but it's like a cultural cornerstone in Los Alamos.
-The town goes the way the lab (LANL) goes, and the idea of living in a town with a prominent laboratory may be strange to you at first.
-My family made friends through the schools and other community events we participated in, and I think it may be somewhat difficult for a new person to make similar connections without a family or kids growing up going to school. This is not to say people are unfriendly or unwelcoming, because they aren't, but I know that it can be difficult to readjust and settle in when you move to a small town.
-Altitude and sunshine. I've seen a lot of people come to Los Alamos over the years, and almost all of them take a little while to adjust to the altitude. One of my middle school teachers mentioned having trouble climbing a flight of stairs without getting winded when she first arrived. You get used to it, but it's probably bothersome at first, especially since Knoxville has a relatively low altitude. Also, get ready for a lot of sunshine. I'd say at least 300 days out of the year are full of sun. There's certainly more sunshine than what I've experienced in Knoxville.
-Last point (for now) is the air quality. Like I said before, lots of people with respiratory issues move to Los Alamos. The only time I can remember the air being anything less than clear and crisp was during the Cerro Grande fire, which is understandable. Aside from that, it was great.
Feel free to ask questions if you have them. I'll do my best to answer. If I can think of anything to add, I will.
To be honest, I couldn't find any other published info on the web. So unless you can find something different and more recent, I have to believe LC is number 1. However, this doesn't really matter, because the question was which were the best schools in ABQ, and I will stick with my answer LC, Sandia, Eldo, and Rio Rancho
The ranking cited is based on the total of the student's math and reading scores. However, the best predictor of the math and reading scores of high school students are their junior high school scores. Thus the high school scores tell us little or nothing about the quality of the high school.
A sad fact but true. No one wants to take the trouble to do the analysis that might give us some insight into school quality.
Nonetheless, in the absence of better information, you might want to send your child to a high ranked school.
David Bent, you make an excellent point. So what these rankings might actually be saying is how good the school cluster is, not necessarily the school. So in the likes with La Cueva, Double Eagle, North Star, Herbert Hoover, E.G. Ross, and Dennis Chavez are good elems. Desert Ridge M.S., Eisenhower M.S., Madison M.S., are the good Middle Schools. So if nothing else, it shows that these High School clusters are the best.
It might be worthwhile to take these schools ranking with grain of salt. I noticed, going to the source, that the Roy NM high school ranked fourth in the state. When I burrowed further into the data I found that Roy doesn't seem to have reported scores for the most recent years.
We should remember that sources like this earn their money by reporting rankings -- perhaps even if they don't really have the data that they should to support these rankings.
If anyone is basing a house buying decision on school quality, they should do additional research.
If anyone is basing a house buying decision on school quality, they should do additional research.
One of the more intangible qualities to research long-distance is the school's sense of "community". Questions like:
Are the parents involved in their children's education and extracurriculars?
Does the school have a problem with bullying (either physical or psychological)?
Is there a mix of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, or is there a clear "majority" such that a "minority" might feel alienated?
What are the attitudes towards kids with special needs?
We have narrowed the field to Jefferson, Madison, Hoover and Eisenhower. If anyone can speak to any of these "intangibles" with regard to any of these schools, I'd appreciate it! I am not concerned with HS yet, since we'll rent first -- we can move to a different HS cluster when it's time to buy!
docmamma, I would recommend Eisenhower out of your list. However, from my experience (parents I have talked with--I don't have any rugrats of my own), Desert Ridge is the best M.S. in APS (take it with a grain of salt), and it appears there test scores are always high. Also, High school is something you should consider immediately. It would be a real pain for you kid to go to a different cluster high than the middle school. it would seperate him/her from the newly made friends made in Mid School , and he/she would have to start all over (again) in High School.
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You get used to it, but it's probably bothersome at first, especially since Knoxville has a relatively low altitude. Also, get ready for a lot of sunshine. I'd say at least 300 days out of the year are full of sun. There's certainly more sunshine than what I've experienced in Knoxville.
Yes, but what does it mean?
